


to wrap you up in warmth and love

by cuddlesandcas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bunker Fluff, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker, Post-Season/Series 08
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 19:49:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5598637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlesandcas/pseuds/cuddlesandcas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Team Free Will's first Christmas since Cas and the other angels fell. Sam and Charlie decide to take it upon themselves to make it memorable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Consider this my super-belated Christmas gift fic to all of you. 
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely [ad-astra-castiel](http://ad-astra-castiel.tumblr.com/) and [padaleckhi](http://padaleckhi.tumblr.com/)

“Mind telling me why you wanted fried chicken so badly that you had us drive out into a snowstorm to get it? You’re lucky the shops were even open.” Dean grumbles as he walks out of the garage, trailing behind Sam with his arms full of groceries. He doesn’t stop griping as they walk into the library. “And what’s with all the other shit you needed anyways? Are you having weird pregnancy cravings or something? Anything you want to tell me, Samantha?”

He’s halfway across the library when he freezes, missing the bitchface Sam directs at him at the comment, because he’s too busy staring at the Christmas tree that suddenly seemed to have sprouted by the corner shelves.

“What the- is that a Christmas tree? How did that even-?”

“Surprise?” Sam says innocently. Dean pins him with a look as he dumps the groceries onto the nearest table. He turns to Sam, arms crossed. “Wanna tell me what’s going on, Sammy?”

“What’s going on,” Charlie says, walking into the room with mugs in hand “is that it’s Christmas Eve and the bunker sorely needs more Christmas spirit.”

“Eggnog?” she offers, handing them both a cup. Dean takes it from her without comment, staring at the two of them for a few seconds.

“Well, at least this explains the fried chicken.” He says glibly, taking a sip of his drink. He turns to Sam, a hint of a pout tugging at his lips. “Does this mean I’m not going to be an uncle?”

“Jerk.” Sam huffs, swatting at Dean’s arm.

“Hey! Watch the eggnog. Bitch.” He retorts, angling his cup away from Sam.

“So Charlie, not to sound like I don’t want you here but when- how did you get here? Last I heard from you, you were in Tulsa.”

“I flew in, duh. Figured I’d hang out in the batcave with everyone for Christmas, and hey, it had to be someone’s priority to give the resident fallen angel a good first Christmas experience.”

Dean groans. “Just… try not make it a remake of his first Halloween.”

“Don’t worry,” Charlie says, patting him on the shoulder, “this is strictly in-house.”

“So, does Cas even know about whatever you’re planning?”

“You make it sound like I’m planning to stage a coup. And of course he does, who do you think helped set this place up?” Charlie asks, waving her hand to indicate the room.

“Speaking of, where is he anyway?” Sam asks.

Charlie shrugs. “No clue. I think he headed back to his room after he hung up the tinsel everywhere.”

“Well, since it looks like you guys have got everything set up without me I’m gonna go shed a few layers. I’m starting to sweat like a pig under all this.” Dean says, heading for his room only to be halted by Sam shoving a bag into his hands.

“Wear that.”

“What?” He says, peering into the bag. “No. Come on, really?”

“Yes.” Sam insists, bringing out the puppy dog eyes. “Please, Dean? It’s Christmas.”

“Ugh, fine.” Dean says, gripping onto the bag tighter. He heads down the hallway, calling out behind him as he goes. “You really need to stop with the puppy eyes, Sammy! You’re not five anymore!”

“Still works though!” Sam shouts back, laughing as Dean marches away faster. He turns to Charlie, inclining his head in the direction of the kitchen. “Let’s go put all this away.”

\--

By the time Dean gets back to the library, there’s no one to be found. He drops his presents under the tree adding to the decent sized pile already there and wonders where Sam and Charlie could’ve wandered off to.

Dean’s about to call out to them when he hears the soft strains of Christmas music coming down the hall that leads to the kitchen. He follows it to the kitchen and finds Sam, Cas, Charlie and Kevin seated around the dining table, decked out in their own Christmas sweaters, chatting and laughing as they dig into the fried chicken and mashed potatoes they’d braved the storm to get.

They even managed to get Kevin into one, which, to be honest, Dean is a little impressed by. That is, the act of getting him into one, not the sweater itself seeing as he never pegged the guy to be the festive type. The sweater even fits the typical Christmas fare - colored a weird purple-red shade with reindeers prancing across it with snowflakes falling on his shoulders. Sam’s sitting next to him in a ridiculous red sweater with skiing penguins on it that he’d probably have forced on Sam as a kid just to irritate him. Cas is sitting across from them wearing a dark blue sweater with snowflakes in white and gray along the middle; it’s the most normal looking one of all of them even with Charlie’s sitting next to him sporting a navy blue Star Wars sweater.

“Nice sweater.” He tells Charlie as he takes a seat in the empty chair on Cas’ right. She preens at the compliment.

“I was starting to think you were gonna hide in your room all night.” Sam says, smirking.

“Shut up.” Dean huffs, plating up some fried chicken and mashed potatoes for himself. “Your fashion sense sucks by the way.”

“Just making sure I’m doing my little brother duties right.” Sam responds cheerily.

Dean rolls his eyes and ignores him, turning to eye Cas up again.

“You look good.” Dean says quietly, nodding at the sweater. He can’t help but notice how the blue of the sweater really brings out Cas’ eyes.

“Thank you. You look rather… festive as well.” Cas says, staring down at the motley quiltwork style of Dean’s sweater.

“Blame Sam.” Dean says, side-eyeing Sam who grins at him when he notices the look.

He decides to temporarily forgive Sam when he brings out the pie after dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

“It’s Christmas!” Charlie cheers, plopping down heavily onto Dean’s bed. Dean bolts up.

“Whuh?” He mumbles, rubbing at his eyes. “Charlie? What time is it?”

“A lil past seven.” She responds, ignoring Dean’s groan as he falls back into bed. “But more importantly, it’s Christmas!”

“Wake me up when it’s Christmas at a more reasonable hour.” Dean mumbles, pulling up his blanket and turning to face away from her.

“Everyone’s already up.” She responds, yanking it away. “Come on. Sam’s already brewed up a fresh pot of coffee.”

Dean mumbles something under his breath as he reluctantly sits back up. Charlie either doesn’t hear it or ignores it as she heads for the door.

“Don’t even think of going back to sleep!” She calls out as she leaves.

Dean grumbles a bit more before pushing himself up out of bed. He washes up quickly, reluctantly putting his sweater back on before he leaves the room to ward off the chill of the bunker. He makes his way to the kitchen; grabbing two mugs and filling them up from the carafe before trudging down the hall to the library.

The others are already situated comfortably around the room in various stages of wakefulness; Sam and Charlie seated at a table across from each other and chatting while she fiddles around with her laptop for a few seconds, increasing the volume of the music filtering out of the laptop’s speakers.

Kevin’s busy ignoring them, drinking his coffee with his eyes shut. Cas is seated a few chairs away, curled up and facing the Christmas tree, blinking sleepily.

“I’m surprised you’re out of bed. It’s not even eight in the morning yet.” Dean says, taking a seat next to him and handing him a mug.

“It’s Christmas.” Cas responds with a yawn. He takes a sip of the coffee and hums quietly. “I believe waking up early to herald the day is part of tradition.”

Dean’s about to make some comment about that when the first strains of _Let It Snow_ chimes out into the library. He turns to eye Charlie skeptically. “Bublé, really? Please tell me we won’t be listening to Celine Dion for Christmas too.”

“You’re a heathen.” Charlie tells him flatly. Kevin snorts into his coffee. “But no, no Dion just so I won’t have to hear you whine about it. Now shut up and appreciate Bublé.”

Dean rolls his eyes at her and goes back to drinking his coffee, ignoring the amused look that Cas directs his way.

Charlie starts singing along when _White Christmas_ starts to play, nudging at Sam with a socked foot and an expectant look. He rolls his eyes at her with a smile but joins in. Cas starts humming along softly next to Dean. Kevin still looks half asleep where he’s sitting with his chin propped up on his hand but Dean thinks he can sort of make out a smile. It’s the most normal Christmas he can ever remember having and it’s… nice. It’s not quite a Hallmark moment but it’s as good as, and that’s more than enough for him.

Bublé’s back and singing about a _Blue Christmas_ by the time Charlie cheerfully announces that it’s time for presents. She situates herself by the tree as the self-appointed Christmas elf so that she can hand out everyone’s gifts to them.

“Merry Christmas, Kev.” She says, handing him a small flat package and watches as he rips apart the wrapping.

“Mass Effect 3? Nice.” Kevin says, smiling. “Thanks Charlie.”

Charlie beams at him. Sam Smith’s _Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas_ starts playing as she goes back to digging through the pile of presents. She hums along as she grabs two packages, giving them a cursory shake before tossing the soft bundle to Sam, and the larger, heavier one to Cas.

Sam catches it with ease, pulling the wrapping apart to find a soft red turtleneck sweater with a large golden reindeer on the front. Dean smirks at him. “Thought your Christmas wardrobe could use an upgrade.”

“Thanks for the fashion advice, Tyra Banks.” Sam responds, rolling his eyes with a smile. “What’d you get, Cas?”

“A leather jacket.” Cas says, lifting it up.

“Consider this me giving you an essential piece of hunter chic. Or biker chic, if that’s what you want, you could totally pull that off. You’ll look pretty hot and kickass either way.” Charlie tells him, winking at Dean. He scowls at her as his cheeks grow warm.

Cas runs a hand over the fabric of the jacket appreciatively. “Thank you, Charlie.”

“You’re welcome.” She says cheerfully. She picks up the next present, turning it this way and that. “Okay, not sure who this one’s for, can’t see a name-”

“That’s mine.” Cas interrupts, taking it from her and handing it to Dean. “It’s for you.”

“Hey, thanks. You didn’t have to get me anything y’know.”

“I wanted to.” Cas says. “Now open it.”

“I’m opening, I’m opening, bossypants. Hold your horses.” Dean says, tearing apart the wrapping to find a scarf bundled up inside. It doesn’t look like the stuff he normally sees in shops, it almost looks like- “Cas, did you make this?”

“Yes.” Cas admits, fingers fidgeting with the hem of his sweater. “I wasn’t sure what colors to choose for it at first. It took a bit of thought to decide on making one in the colors of your likely Hogwarts house.”

“Y‘sure you didn’t just want me to look like a giant bumblebee?” Dean teases, smiling at Cas. He gets a small, shy smile in return. “Thanks, Cas. It’s awesome.”

Sam snickers into his eggnog.

“Somethin’ funny, Sammy?”

“No, no.” Sam smiles, shaking his head. “Hufflepuff suits you.”

“I made one for you as well, Sam.” Castiel says, taking the proffered parcel from Charlie and handing it to him. Dean quits giving him the stink-eye to see what Sam’s one looks like, watching as he rips apart the wrapping. Sam crows once he sees the scarf.

“Gryffindor! This is great, Cas. Thanks.” Sam grins, rubbing his fingers over the soft yarn of his new scarf, proudly displaying his Gryffindor colors. He wraps it around his neck and looks at them expectantly. “How do I look?”

The scarf paired with his ridiculous red sweater makes him look a bit like an idiot honestly, but Dean doesn’t doubt that he probably looks much the same since his own sweater looks like Christmas threw up on it without the scarf on top of it.

“The scarf is definitely an improvement to your look.” Dean says, watching Cas’ smile turn amused.

“This makes what I got you even more perfect.” Sam says, nodding at Charlie to hand over the large square box to him. Cas takes it, looking up in surprise at the hefty weight. Sam grins at his confused look. “Open it.”

Cas works at the wrapping carefully, making sure not to tear it.

“Dude, just rip it up. No one cares about the wrapping.” Dean groans. Cas ignores him and continues to open it methodically. He’s almost certain Cas is going slower now just to irritate him.

It doesn’t take long before Cas finally pulls away enough of the wrapper to get a look at what’s inside. Surprise flits across his face before he looks up at Sam. “You didn’t.”

“I did.” Sam agrees, smiling wider. “Figured you’d like to have one that was all yours.”

“What? What did he get you?” Charlie says, jumping up to peek over his shoulder. She whistles. “Harry Potter box set. Sweet.”

Cas carefully puts the books aside before getting up to envelop Sam in a hug.

“Thank you, Sam.”

“You’re welcome.” He responds with a surprised laugh, hugging him back.

“Not that this isn’t adorable,” Charlie pipes up “but can we get back to the presents?”

Dean waits till the others are suitably distracted by the gifts Charlie’s giving out before turning to Cas, nudging at his foot. He makes a valiant attempt at resisting the urge to fidget once he gets his attention. It’s not entirely successful but if Cas isn’t going to mention it then neither is he. “So uh, I got you somethin’ too.”

“Oh?” Cas says, glancing at where Charlie’s still handing out presents.

“It’s not under there.” Dean says, handing him a small rectangular shaped parcel wrapped in newspaper. “Sorry about the crappy wrap job.”

“Dean, I honestly wouldn’t care if it was wrapped in tinfoil.” Cas says gently. He takes the same amount of care with undoing it as he did with the cheery Christmas themed paper that had covered Sam’s present.

By the time Cas finally peels away the paper Dean’s had half a dozen internal debates with himself trying to decide whether he should tear the wrapping off himself or if he should snatch it right back before Cas can see what’s inside.

“Dean?” Cas says questioningly, looking between the leather-bound journal in his hands and Dean in confusion.

“I dunno what I was thinking; I saw it when I was in town and I thought you might like it. So. You can use it as a hunter’s journal or whatever.” Dean shrugs, rubbing at his neck in embarrassment. “Do what you want with it.”

Dean watches Cas run his fingers over the small bird embossed onto the cover of the journal for a few moments before looking up to find Cas watching him fondly.

“Thank you, Dean.”

“You’re welcome.” He chokes out, looking away as he feels a blush begin to burn at his cheeks.

Charlie and Kevin are busy talking animatedly about who knows what, but he catches Sam’s watching them with a smile. It makes Dean feel like he’s being spied on even though he’s not doing anything illegal.

Dean glares at him, though his red cheeks probably ruin the effect. So he clears his throat loudly instead, which only serves to get everyone’s attention squarely on him.

“If we’re done with the sharing and caring handouts, can we please have breakfast now? I’m starving.”

\--

For all that Dean was the one who had been griping about being hungry; he and Cas end up being the last ones to trail into the kitchen.

He’s about to go and open up a bottle of the mulled wine he’d snagged yesterday and start on making breakfast when Cas stops beside him, frowning up at the ceiling.

“What?” He says, looking up to see the sprig of mistletoe that Cas was staring at – a sprig which had definitely not been there an hour ago, he’s sure of it. “Oh.”

He flicks a glance at Sam who’s leaning back against the kitchen island and trying his best to not radiate smug satisfaction at having caught him and Cas under the mistletoe together. Charlie’s standing next to him, not even trying to hide how pleased she is by this. Kevin’s the only one who doesn’t seem to care – he rolls his eyes and goes back to pouring himself a cup of eggnog once he realizes what’s going on.

When he looks back, Cas is looking at him expectantly, and Dean knows without asking that he’s willing to go with whatever Dean wants to do.

Decision made, his lips tilt up in a small smile and Cas only has a second of surprised realization before Dean wraps an arm around his waist and kisses him.

Cas’ arms come up, one going up into his hair as he takes control of the kiss and the other reaching to grip at Dean’s sweater. He can feel Cas smiling into the kiss, so he draws it out a little longer, just so he can enjoy the feel of Cas’ smile pressed against his own mouth.

By the time they finally pull apart it’s because they’re smiling too much to keep going. Dean wonders what expression must be on Sam’s face now that the smug look was wiped away, and he’s tempted to look since it’s not often that he gets one over on Sam but the warm smile on Cas’ face is a much better view.

“Merry Christmas, Cas.” Dean says, loud enough that only Cas hears it. Cas’ smile at that is smaller but no less happy, the crinkles around his eyes deepening as he stares at Dean.

“So, uh,” Sam says, effectively ruining the nice mushy moment Dean was having – what? He has them sometimes – by reminding them of his presence. “you handled that surprisingly well.”

Before he can decide on some snarky comeback to throw at his brother, Cas decides to answer for him.

“I’m certain there would be cause for worry if my boyfriend suddenly had issue with kissing me.” Cas says dryly. “Your concern is appreciated, but as you can see, Dean is fine.”

“W _hat?!_ ” Charlie shrieks gleefully. “When did this happen? I need details!”

Sam’s jaw drops as his eyebrows disappear into his hair. Dean’s pretty sure he’s never seen Sam look so surprised.

Charlie latches onto Cas, dragging him away to sit next to her so that she can grill him. He shoots Dean an amused look as he allows himself to be manhandled and interrogated.

Dean’s left standing by himself, a few feet away from Sam, who's staring at him like he’s busy reassessing reality.

“Surprise?” Dean says, faux innocently to Sam as he passes by him, intent on making the best Christmas pancakes anyone’s ever tasted. Sam’s obviously trying his best to frown but he can’t fight against the way his lips keep twitching into a smile.

“About time.” Sam says, clapping him on the shoulder.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year folks!


End file.
